


Where the Light Goes

by AloneShadow



Series: Pieces of Dominion [5]
Category: Dominion (TV)
Genre: A What If kind of fic, Angst and Feels, Character Study, Feels, Haven reference because reasons, Hurt Alex, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Memory Related, Minor Violence, Relationship Study, Spoilers of Season 1 and 2, Unexpected Season 3 Theory, Vega is a diner and Louis is a priest, wth is going on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-26 17:56:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12562964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AloneShadow/pseuds/AloneShadow
Summary: Alex Lannon is living his life traveling around the States and, despite the bad things that happened, he's trying his best to survive... being an eighteen guy is pretty hard already, but going on a pilgrimage with his friend Louis wasn't too bad. They saw a lot of places and the last town where they stopped looked nice...Vega? What a funny name for a diner.*Updated May 2018. Self-editing, plus few changes. The story deserved a better treatment.*





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My reaction reading the prompt that inspired this fic: Huh. *keep reading other stuff*  
> My brain ten minutes later: PLOT. 
> 
> I'll write the prompt at the end of the story.

It was always the same dream- always the same nightmare: screams, blood on the floor, corpses impossible to identify in the darkness, and a deep sorrow slowly making it hard to breathe… He could feel his heart going to break into pieces, and then… 

Then light always came to save him. Most of the time followed by a voice calling him back. 

“Alex?” the worry faded slowly from Father Louis’s face, and he breathed out in relief staring down at him. 

Hearing his own heart hammering in his ears, Alex stared back while connecting to reality. “Did I wake you?” 

“No, I was already awake.” The man smiled reassuringly. “Better or worst this time?” 

“I don’t know…” Alex sighed, dropping the head on the pillow. “It’s getting hard to tell.” 

Father Louis stared in silence for a moment, then said, “I’m sorry. I knew that going back on the road wasn’t the best idea.” 

“It’s not your fault- or because of the trip,” Alex said sitting up, feeling the shirt slightly sticky on his back. 

“I should've insisted and let you stay in Maine...” 

“I hated that place, anyway.” 

“No, you don’t.” He sighed patiently, “You got some friend there. You were thinking about college-“ 

“And we both know I wasn’t going to take it seriously.” 

“But we both know you would like to. Alex, you’re young, no one is forcing you to follow me around.” 

“I know, but it’s something I want to do,” he said looking down, “I owe you this much.” 

“You don’t owe anything, and you know that. School is also important. It’s your life, you should take some time for yourself, to think and-“ 

“Can we continue this conversation after I got my coffee?” 

Father Louis nodded slowly. “I’m just worried about you.” 

“Don't be. I’m fine,” Alex said standing and closing himself in the bathroom, leaning against the door, perfectly aware that both of them knew he wasn’t fine at all.

.-.-.-.

October was already cold in Pennsylvania, and dark clouds seemed following them, covering the sun since they jumped into the car to continue their journey. Last time Alex saw the sun, they were in Haven, Maine, while saying goodbye to Audrey, Duke and the others… Hard to admit, but he missed them so damn much. 

He knew Father Louis wasn’t going to stay there forever, they never stopped somewhere for more than few weeks, but Haven turned into their home for almost five months, so he made the mistake to think that he could actually start talking to someone. Stupid, gigantic mistake.

He rarely made friends during the journey the two of them started almost a year before, moving from a State to another, and Alex was fine with that. After what happened to him, it would be weird start any kind of conversation anyway, but not in Haven. That place seemed to fit for any kind of _troubled_ person. Audrey and the others were the proof of that: they never judged him, they never thought he or his situation was weird, they simply accepted it and later on told him about some weirder shit they saw in the past, in their little town. 

Leaving them had been hard, but apparently, he cared about the promise he made to Louis more than he thought. 

Father Louis himself knew he wasn’t happy to leave Haven, but he also knew how stubborn the young man was, and he sure couldn’t force him to leave him… so they were back on the road, stopping in the first town they met entering in Pennsylvania. 

“Your funny feeling again?” Alex had asked, looking out the car's window.

“You say that as if you don’t feel it as well,” Father Louis commented with a little grin while parking in front of a diner for their first meal in the new town. 

Alex felt it, indeed. It was a feeling they discovered to share while moving around the country, some kind of sixth sense suggesting to stop, that _that_ was the place. Most of the time it turned out it was right because of the most different reasons, from desperate people in need of help to just _that_ simple, insisting feeling telling them to stop. 

The first times that happened, Alex didn’t say anything about it, but after ten towns visited, he confessed that every time he had felt that feeling as well, the sensation- the need to wait, even just to look around. 

“It’s different this time…” He admitted. 

Father Louis killed the engine and looked at him, “Different how?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Well, we’ll see. Take a table for us, would you? I have to meet Father Jamie first.” 

“Jamie… Was an old friend of yours? Red hair?” 

He smiled a bit more, “You remember.” 

Alex blushed a bit. “Was it before the accident?” he asked and saw him nodding. “Are you sure we’re here because of the funny feeling and not because you wanted to test me?” 

“As long we make progress, you’re not allowed to complain,” he stated. “Table close to the window," he added before giving him the car’s key and moving out the car. 

Alex sighed and did the same, stretching his back before grabbing the blue jacket from the back seat and heading to the entrance of the diner: a strong smell of lemon hit him like a slap in the face and he coughed a bit. 

“Oh, come on, Arika, is not that bad,” a woman huffed from the other side of the counter, her back at the entrance. “I was just trying to-“ turning around, she stopped, mouth partly open while her nervous glare changed to one of surprise and then embarrassment. “Oh, I- I thought it was someone else.” 

“Sorry...?” Alex said, trying to be ironic while staring at her: she was a beautiful woman, maybe around her thirty, big green eyes and long, slightly curly brown hair falling over her chest.

She laughed a bit and shook her head. “No need. Come on in.” 

Alex smiled back and looked around before sitting at one of the tables on the left. From the windows on the right, he could see Father Louis’ pickup and the roof of the Church through the trees not too far, on the other side on the street. The diner was elegant but not too fancy, and not too much American-ish either; there were pictures and frames on the walls, some drawings showing the ruins of a dark city with high buildings- they looked kind of wreaked, like in a post-apocalyptic scenario… 

“Alright, let’s try again: welcome to Vega.” The woman said reappearing next to the table, making him jump a little, “And sorry for the smell.” 

Alex blinked. “Vega?” 

“Yeah. The name of the diner…?” she said, pointing a finger at the menu she placed in front of him: Vega was actually written on top of it.

“Right…” Alex nodded, then looked up at her again. After few seconds of awkward silence, he looked away. “Sorry, I- maybe I’m confusing you with someone else.” 

“It’s ok. You know, I had the same feeling for a second.” 

_Lots of strange feelings here_ , Alex thought. 

“Can I ask you something?” She said staring intently at him. 

“Y-yeah. Sure.” 

“The smell was really that bad?” 

Alex blinked before laughing a bit. “No, it was just- very intense.” 

“It was a lemon cake if you’re interested.” 

“I actually might be.” 

“Good. You want to order something else first?” She said grabbing note and pen from the pocket of her black skirt. 

“I’m waiting for someone, actually…” he said looking outside for a moment and sighed noticing Father Louis talking to another man in the parking, “but I fear it’s gonna take a while.” 

“You know Father Jamie?” She asked, following his gaze. 

“No, the other man- Father Louis knows him,” Alex said and looked at her that was nodding, clearly waiting for him to continue. “We… we’re kind on a road trip- or pilgrimage, as he likes to call it.” 

“Oh, so you- you’re a priest as well?” 

“What? No, no that’s- that’s really not my thing,” Alex laughed out. “He knew my family and after my parents died, I... I decided to join him.” 

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I really talk too much-”

“It’s ok. People look at us in strange ways pretty often, so every time I need to explain he didn’t kidnap me.” 

“Lots of people think that?” 

“Enough to get used to it,” Alex sighed patiently.

She looked at the men outside, then back at him with a timid smile. “Alright, then I’ll prepare dinner for both of you. The first meal’s free.” 

“Really?” 

“No, but I make the rules here, in Vega.” 

“I can only accept, then.” He smiled again, then offered a hand, “I’m Alex Lannon.” 

She grabbed it after just a second, “Claire Riesen.”

.-.-.-.

Alex jumped awake over the back seats of the pickup when someone knocked on the window above his head.

“I know sleeping in a Church isn’t that great, but the back of the car is really so much better?” Father Louis asked. 

“What? Ugh-” Alex’s head fell down when the door opened and he stared at the world upside down for a long, sad moment. 

“Jamie saw you. He was worried you were feeling uncomfortable sleeping inside.” 

“I travel around with a priest. I don’t know what uncomfortable means anymore,” Alex commented and saw him staring in cold silence. He sighed and sat up, legs falling outside. “It’s not because of the Church. I just couldn’t sleep so I moved in here.” 

Father Louis dropped his cold face at that. “Nightmares again?” 

“Last thing I wanted was to wake everyone with my screams.” 

“You screamed?” 

“No, but I could have.” 

“Alex…” 

“No. I know what you’re going to say and the answer is no.” 

“The hospital is just three kilometers from here.” 

“I don’t need it.” 

“Who’s having nightmares every night?” 

“That’s not- the nightmares have nothing to do with the accident.” 

“How can you tell?” 

“Maybe because the bodies I see aren’t my parent’s!” Alex shouted angrily, regretting immediately what he just said. He stood up and walked away. 

The air seemed to be even colder that day, the sky still covered with clouds, so Alex wasn’t surprised to find himself shivering, with only a hoodie and sweatpants protecting his body from the wind.

He never talked about his parent’s like that before… he rarely talked about them at all, but the nightmares were getting worse since they arrived there, three days before, and with only a few hours of sleep per night his nerves were at their limit. 

Hearing a different, strange smell, Alex looked on the right and found a flower’s shop next to the entrance of the cemetery- or more like a little cabin turned into a flower shop, with an old woman sitting on a bench next to it- and she staring intently at him. He swallowed, feeling strangely intimidated. 

“You. I know you?” the lady asked. 

“I don’t think so…” he said, both staring at each other for a moment. 

“Come here.” She said then. Her voice cold and strong enough to make her sound more like a general of the army. 

“Huh- what?” 

“I asked you to come here, young man.” She repeated and stood only when he started to walk closer. 

Alex saw her enter the cabin and came out with a bouquet of pink roses that she forced him to take, smashing them against his chest. 

“There’s a beautiful woman inside the cemetery. Give her the flowers.” 

Alex blinked, taken aback. “Uh... sorry, but I don't think that's how it works...” he said, and the tension lessened when he saw her grinning ironically. 

“I’m hiring you for the task. The beautiful woman paid for those, so find her and give her the flowers.” 

“You’re _hiring_ me?” 

The old lady snorted and looked around before taking a yellow flower, putting half of it inside the collar of his shirt, leaving the petals out. “That’s your payment. Daffodils are rare in this time of the year. Now go.” 

Alex was so surprised and confused by the situation, in the end he found himself actually searching for the _beautiful woman_ inside the cemetery, the bouquet of roses in his hands. 

He slowly wandered around, staring at the various religious statues and stopped for a second at one showing an angel sitting next to a grave, both hands on it, the eyes sadly pointed down with her wings elegantly placed on the back. 

“Alex?” 

He looked away and found Claire sitting on a bench under a big tree, with an empty vase next to her. “The beautiful woman, I presume,” he said and laughed at the confusion on Claire’s face. 

After a quick explanation, Claire was laughing as well. “You just had the pleasure to meet Judith, our lovely flower lady. She’s a bit weird, but in a good way.”

“She said these are yours,” Alex said handing her the bouquet. 

“Oh- I have my hands pretty busy with this…” she looked at the vase next to her, filled with water. “That’s why I haven't taken the roses, before. You- would mind to help me?” 

“Sure.” Alex left the bouquet and took the vase, surprised to find it actually very heavy. “You were going to take this with you all the way?” 

“I made it so far just by myself, you know? Come on, it's not too far,” she huffed with a grin, leading the way with the flowers into her arms. The place seemed to be empty and completely silent aside the wind moving the treetops.

Alex stared at the Church on the right, on the other side of the wall surronding the cemetery. The whole graveyard looked old; some of the tombstones were broken or the names on it had blended completely with it, storm after storm. Only the colors of nature were bright in all that gray: trees and flowers were so alive it would be almost painful to look at them if the colors hadn't felt also so comforting.

Reaching a zone situated behind the Church, Claire stopped. “Here we are,” she said and they both stopped in front of a little chapel with the name Riesen above the door, golden, metal letters shining over the gray stone. “You can leave it outside. I’ll take care of it,” she added. 

“I can stay to help. If you want.” 

Claire nodded slowly, “Ok,” and entered the chapel. 

Alex watcher her split the bouquet in two, putting half of the roses in an empty little vase already there, and the other half in the one he put down, moving them both in front of the same grave: Edward and Clementine Riesen. 

Claire stood, patting her hands clean on her jeans and looked briefly at him, “My mom loved pink roses.” 

Alex was staring at the dates. “I’m sorry for your father,” he said uncertainly, and added quickly, “It happened recently.” 

Claire nodded, taking a deep breath. “He never get over my mom’s death…” she said quietly. “She was very ill. There was nothing we could do for her.” That said, she looked away from the tomb and left the chapel. 

After one last look at the Riesen’s pictures, Alex followed her outside, closing the glass-door behind him. “I’m sorry Claire. Maybe I shouldn’t have come along.” 

“No, it’s ok. It’s nice not coming here alone, for once.” 

“You don’t have anyone in town?” 

“No. Just me and Vega.” She smiled sadly. “My father bought it for me years ago. I’m trying to keep it working as long as I can.” 

“You can be proud of yourself. That lemon cake was amazing.” 

Claire stared at him before laughing, a soft, incredibly sweet sound in a place so cold. She then pointed at the daffodil in his shirt, “You’re here for someone too?” 

“Uh? Oh- no… no, it’s Judith’s payment for my delivery work.” 

“Oh. I guess she would do something like that...” 

"She also said this one is special...?" 

"Well, kind of. That's a daffodil. It's full of them around the Church in spring, so I wonder how Judith still have them." She explained, slowly heading back to the exit of the cemetery, "They also stand for rebirth and forgiveness in the flower's language." 

"You're an expert?"

"I'm full of surprises," she said with a grin, laughing right after.

When they spotted the gate, Alex was still looking around. “There are a lot of statues here…” he murmured, staring at different angels made of stone placed all over the place. 

“More than usual, you mean?” 

“Well, I’ve seen worst...” 

“You visited a lot of cemeteries?” 

“Huh- no,” Alex blushed a bit. “No, my- my mother was the religious one. She liked to walk around in these places after visiting our family’s members,” he rolled the daffodil between his fingers, staring at it in surprise, “leaving flowers to the statues.” he murmured, unsure. 

Claire blinked. “That’s…” 

“Weird?” 

“No, it’s- I think it’s something very kind to do.” 

Alex slowed down. “She never told me why she-“ he closed his eyes and took a deep breath before pass out. 

“-hear me? Alex?” Father Louis looked terrified while looking down at him, grasping his shoulder. 

Alex blinked slowly, noticing Claire’s worried face right behind the priest. “Yeah… I’m fine.” 

Both of them sighed in relief. “I told you not to overdo it! What were you thinking?” 

“I wasn’t doing anything…” 

“I told him you were helping me,” Claire said, looking guilty. “I had no idea-“ 

“Not your fault,” Alex said, slowly sitting up on a bench. 

“Alex, I’m serious, you can’t-“ 

“Can you bring me some water?” he interrupted him, looking tired, “Please.” 

Father Louis breathed out nervously before standing and leave.

Claire watched him walking away, then sit next to Alex. “I’m really sorry…” 

“I told you, it’s not your fault.” 

“He said you should be taken to the hospital-“ 

“He's just overreacting, as usual,” Alex said more angry that he intended. He took a deep breath, leaning his back against the bench. “I’m not sick. I’m just… weak. I'd been stuck in a hospital bed for a long time.” 

“May I ask you why?” 

“Five years in a coma.” 

Claire blinked in surprise, “Oh God… Alex, I’m sorry-” 

He huffed, smiling a bit, “That wasn't your fault either.” 

“I know, but- five years…”

Alex looked down. “That’s how a lost my parents... car accident. When I woke up, Louis was there, he told me what happened. My memory has some problems since then. I remember the basics… also things about my parents. I remembered Father Louis as well. Not too bad, all considered.” 

“Don't take that granted. Recovering from something like that, being able to remember... Someone would consider it almost a miracle.” 

“You think?” 

“Yes, definitely.” 

Alex stared at her for a moment before looking down. “Maybe you’re right… but every day I feel like I’m losing something and- and the nightmares, it’s- it’s horrible.”

“There’s no way you can have all your memories back?” 

“Doctors said it could happen, but no one knows when or how.” He let out a deep breath, “I don’t know why I’m telling you about this. Sorry, you don’t even know me.” 

“I do know you,” she said and smiled at the uncertain expression on his face. “Well, I’m starting to know you better, and I’d like to continue this way.” 

Alex smiled a bit, wondering how they end up so comfortable with each other so easily. “Me too.” 

“Glad to hear it. You think you can walk? It’ getting colder and I want to offer you and Father Louis a warm coffee.” 

“That sounds amazing.” Alex stood and moved to follow her, noticing the daffodil on the ground. He stared at it for a second before leaving the cemetery.

.-.-.-.-. 

“My mom ever told you why she used to left flowers to the angel statues?”

Father Louis looked up from his book and turned to the young man suddenly sitting next to him at the table, in the library of the Church. “You remember that?” 

“Since yesterday.” 

He put down the book, “And why you haven't told me?” 

“It wasn’t so important,” Alex said as a thunder rumbled outside. He saw him staring in silence, so asked again, “She told you about it?” 

Father Louis nodded slowly. “She said it became some sort of a habit since she saw an angel statue when she was a child- one with an arm stretched forward, as to give something- or take, and she put a flower in that hand. A way to thank the angels guarding the souls stuck on Earth, as she told me once.” 

Alex was staring intently at him, “You could’ve said something about this story.” 

“Doctors said not to accelerate your recovery. The memories should come back to you naturally like this one did.” 

“That’s just a stupid excuse to keep secrets with me.” 

“Just because it’s too soon.” 

“It’s almost a year, Louis.” 

“Almost. And it’s Father Louis for you.” 

Alex groaned and left the table. 

“Alex, I’m serious,” he said, making him stop and turn around. “Next time you pass out, we go straight back to the hospital for a checkup.” His voice was serious, no negotiations allowed, and the other left without saying anything else. 

Alex kept marching nervously around the Church until he heard a familiar voice. 

“You.”

He turned and saw Judith with her little cabin next to the metal fences protecting the Church’s area. “You have another delivery for me?” he sighed. 

The old lady smiled again that ironic grin of hers. “Come here.” She said and again moved only when he approached. 

Once there, looking at the different types of flowers, Alex saw her grabbing another daffodil and hand it to him. “What is this for?” 

“You lost your payment yesterday, have you?” 

“I- how you know?” 

“Don’t lose it again. Are we clear?” 

Confused, he nodded and took the flower, as Judith moved to sit back on the bench. Alex just sighed and walked away. He stopped at the entrance of the cemetery, studying the flower for a moment and decided to enter the place once again. 

He knew Claire was at the diner that afternoon, he and Father Louis were regulars there by now, so he suspected to be completely alone there that day. He walked slowly, staring at the statues, wondering how his mother used to decide where to leave the flowers. 

He simply kept walking without a specific direction until found himself in front of an old, little, round pond: the water wasn’t very clean, with dead leaves on the surface and in all the corners. The statue in the middle was placed over a higher base to keep it safe from the water, but it was all covered by ivy's branches. It was probably an angel, because a wing was barely visible, stretched behind. 

Alex stared at it for a long moment, then looked around to see where to leave the flower… he wanted to leave it there. For some reason, it felt like the right place. Sadly, the statue wasn’t offering hands and there was nothing around it where to put a flower. Maybe he could just drop it into the water… 

“What are you doing?” 

He jumped and turned around, finding a man few steps away: a very tall man, and also very skinny; his skin looking so pale in contrast with dark, short hair and the black long jacket he was wearing. 

Alex tried to say something, stopped and tried again all he could do was staring.

“It’s going to rain soon. You should leave.” The man said, voice flat, face unreadable. 

“Y-yeah…” Alex finally managed to look away, down at the flower, and then around the statue. 

“What you’re trying to do?” The man asked again. 

“I just...” Alex shook his head. “I don’t know,” he murmured, flinching back when he found the man one step from him. 

“A flower for the angel?” the man asked, looking at the yellow flower in his hand. 

“Some kind of stupid family tradition,” Alex sighed, meeting his eyes when he looked up. He swallowed and felt the strong need to touch him. He forced himself not to. 

“Not all the angels want flowers,” the man said, sending his gray eyes to the statue. “Some don’t deserve them.” 

Alex followed his gaze, “What about this one?” 

A thunder made the entire cemetery tremble. 

Alex shivered looking at the sky, “Damn, that was close…” he commented and, looking back down, the man was gone. He looked around for a moment, then the rain started to fall and he ran to the exit. 

He stopped only once, in front of the statue shaped as a feminine angel sitting on the ground, the one he saw the first time. Alex stared at it before placing the flower in front of her and- her face… was she slightly smiling last time he saw it? “I’m going crazy,” he groaned, running to take cover. 

“I swear, you enjoy making me worry.” 

“Nah.” 

Father Louis slapped the towel on his face, “You say that, but then it’s me who's going to take care of you if you catch a cold.” 

“It’s just water, relax.” Alex tried to drain his hair and he sneezed. Carefully looking up, he found the cold glare of the priest. “I didn’t pass out. That’s a good thing.” 

Father Louis just shook his head and moved a steaming cup of tea to him on the table. “Why you were back in the cemetery?” 

Alex almost told him, but then just shrugged. “No reason.” 

The cleric sighed and sat in front of him. “Look, I’m sorry I’m being so uptight these days, but I really don’t want you to risk your health like this… So I decided we’ll go back home soon as I'm done here.” 

Alex looked up, surprised. “Home... where?” 

“In Nevada. Where your house is.” 

“But- why? Why you want to stop? I’m fine- we can still finish this journey.” 

“I think it would be better for you to go home. It might help your memory as well. Getting fragments of it like this it’s- it’s too stressful for you. You need a place where you can relax and heal.” 

“No, you just want to drop me somewhere.” 

“I never thought anything like that.” 

“Then let’s keep this pilgrimage going.” 

“Why?” Father Louis asked, “Tell me why you still want to follow me around. Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate your help and company, but I’m worried about you. I don’t want to see you back in a hospital bed more than you do, but this life... You shouldn’t push yourself so much.” 

“You think going back to an empty house is going to make me feel better?” 

“Maybe not. But I think you might need it.” 

“There’s nothing there for me and you know it.” 

“Why, you have something here worth to stay?” 

Alex swallowed and huffed a cold laugh, “I thought I did. My mistake,” he said leaving the kitchen. 

“Alex, I didn’t mean-“ Father Louis tried to say, but he was already gone.

He hated that Louis was right. He hated that there was nothing there for him, but there was nothing in Nevada either… there was nothing for him anywhere in the whole world, probably, and if there was something, somewhere, he wasn’t sure to be able to find it.

After waking up from the coma he always felt like he missed so much more than just five years and the memories of the past… It was something he couldn’t remember- and it felt important. 

Alex took a deep breath watching the storm raging outside from under the entrance of the Church, the cemetery looking like a war zone in the gray mist.

.-.-.-.-.-.

_There was fire somewhere, Alex could smell the smoke, feel the heat in the air… and blood on the ground, the bodies unmoving on the floor around him- one was closer, almost resting on his lap…_

_“Alex!”_

_A voice called him before he could look down, but raising his eyes he was blinded by white light and then… and then…_

.-.-.-.-.

Alex startled awake, laying on his side on something way too hard and cold to be his bed.

He sat up and looked around, his heart racing: he was in the cemetery, waking up on the well-known bench with the big tree behind it. Recognizing the place, he tried to calm down- until Alex turned around and found the man in dark clothes from the day before crouched next to him. He gasped and flinched away so fast he fell down on the ground, standing as quickly as possible, taking some distance. “Dammit- dude, what the hell!” he yelled in the process.

“I was trying to wake you up,” the man said standing as well, calm as nothing happened. 

“No need to creep on me for that!” 

The man narrowed his eyes a bit. “You were asleep. How can you tell I was creeping on you?” 

“You weren’t very subtle about it,” Alex shot back, but then just shook his head and looked around again. The rain had stopped, at least. “What time is it?” 

“Almost dawn.” 

“Great…” 

“Why you were sleeping here?” 

“I wasn’t. I was in my room, in my damn bed and then-“ Alex shivered in the cold early morning, his old t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants clearly not enough to keep him warm. 

“You sleepwalked?” 

“You tell me,” Alex snorted studying him, “Since when you were here?” 

“Not long. I just find you.” 

“Right...” he murmured staring suspiciously at him, but then sighed and walked away. “Whatever. Not the strangest thing happened to me, anyway. 

“Where are you going?” 

“What you think? The exit.” 

“The gate is still closed.” 

Alex didn’t bother to answer, but once there, he found a big chain keeping the metal gates closed together. “Damn it…” he murmured grabbing the bars, looking sadly outside. Turning around, he jumped again, finding the man next to him. 

“Sorry,” he said before the young man could yell at him. “I’m not scaring you on purpose. I mean no harm.” 

Alex stared intently at him, but the other just kept his glare on the other side of the gate. “Who the hell are you? And why are _you_ in the cemetery?” 

The man didn’t answer right away, then slowly said, “There's someone that I don’t want to leave.” 

Alex took a deep breath, trying to sound less like an asshole. “Sorry.” 

“No need to apologize.” 

“So... you live around here?” 

The man nodded in silence. 

“And... you have a name, by any chance?” Alex could swear he saw a flash of pure agony on the man's face for a second, but it was gone so quickly he couldn’t be sure. “Alright, then. I’ll mind my own business.” He said starting to climb the gate. 

“Were you having a nightmare?” The man asked, watching him stop on the fence to look down at him. “I heard you. That’s how I found you.” 

“Sleeping in a cemetery sure won’t help me get rid of bad dreams,” Alex said and kept climbing the gate that was easy to cross, luckily. 

“What did you dream about?” 

“You’re a psychologist or something?” 

“No, but I have nightmares too.” 

Alex stopped again, sitting on top of the gate and looked at him, this time almost curiously. “Really?” 

“I can barely sleep. That’s also why I was here.” 

“Then you don’t need to hear about what keeps _me_ awake,” he said jumping down on the other side. 

“It could help both of us… maybe our nightmares are more similar than you think.” 

Alex landed on his feet and turned around to answer, but the man was gone once again. 

That morning, when Claire arrived to open the diner, she blinked at the young man sitting on the stairs of the entrance, barefoot. 

Alex sighed, “It’s not weird as it may look.” 

“What’s weird is that this is not surprising me as much as it should,” she commented. “Come on in, or you’ll catch a cold.” 

After some explanation, Claire was staring worriedly at the young man sitting in front of her, on the other side of the counter. “I think you should tell Father Louis about this. Sleepwalking can be dangerous.” 

“He’ll send me to the hospital. Last thing I want is going back there.” 

“I know, but what if it gets worse? You could wake up in a place you don’t know- or get hurt.” 

Alex took a sip of the coffee, “I never sleepwalked before. I don’t know why is happening now.” 

“Don’t you think that’s one more reason to do something about it?” 

“I just don’t want to make Louis worry again. He’s ready to give up on this pilgrimage because of me if I don’t get better, and now the sleepwalking…”

“He cares about you, Alex. If you don’t want to make him worry, tell him the truth. I’m sure you two will figure this out, together.” 

Alex nodded, then looked up from the coffee and asked, “About the cemetery… you ever saw a strange man there? Tall, black short hair, dark clothes…?” 

Claire thought for a moment, “Not that I remember… why?” 

“I saw him there this morning… he lost someone recently, maybe? He didn’t tell me much- not even his name.” 

“There wasn’t any funeral lately. I would see it from here,” she said, tilting her head outside: the road in front of the diner was the only one to reach the Church and the cemetery. 

Alex just shrugged. “’Guess I’ll ask him next time… now I better go get dress, before scaring your customers.” He grabbed the little paper bag, “I’ll pay for this soon as I get my wallet.” 

Claire waved a hand watching him leaving, feeling a pang of worry for the boy. 

Father Louis left his little room and stopped in the kitchen, staring at the breakfast waiting for him on the table. He then looked at Alex staring out the window, already dressed. “What have you done?” 

Alex turned around, arms crossed over his chest, “Uh?” 

“Breakfast on the table and you ready to- to do something I sure won’t approve… What’s going on?” 

Alex almost confessed about the sleepwalking, he honestly _almost_ did. “Nothing. It's more than a week since we got here, so I thought to take a look around the town today.” 

The other took a sip of coffee and reached him at the window. “That’s good. You’re sure there’s nothing else?” 

“Your faith is for religious purposes only? Would it be so hard have some of it in me, as well?” Alex snorted, walking away, grabbing the jacket from a chair. 

“I guess my faith is not _that_ strong,” he said, watching the other staring blankly at him before leaving without even commenting.

The town wasn’t very big, but it took some time to look around the whole place, entering some of the shops, listening people talking… Keeping his distance as usual. He knew he wasn’t going to last long in any discussion anyway: between the nightmares and the sleepwalking, he felt weak for the rest of the morning. 

He couldn’t go back to the diner every time, either. Claire was clearly worried about him, but- this situation was so complex that not even Alex himself knew what to do anymore. 

Louis knew about his nightmares, he always had, but Alex refused to tell him about the last one: the body of someone into his lap, and that voice calling him… Did he know that voice? He wasn’t sure… 

“You.” 

Alex jumped, finding Judith sitting in front of a bakery. “Are you stalking me or something?” 

She grinned again and stood, handing him three daffodils. 

“Look, thanks, but I don’t need any more flowers.” 

“Are you going to refuse my flowers?” she asked in a suddenly cold voice. 

“No, ma’am,” Alex sighed, taking them. “I just don’t know what to do with them.” 

“I’m sure you do.” She smiled again and walked away. 

Alex stared at her, then at the flowers. “I wonder if she let these grow in her pockets or something,” he murmured to himself, deciding to head back to the Church for lunch. 

Walking in front of the cemetery, it took him just a moment to let his curiosity win: he entered the place wondering if the mysterious man was still there. 

He silently left a flower on two of the multiple statues he met along the way, once again without really thinking about what he was doing, or why, just leaving daffodils around. 

When he reached the part of the cemetery behind the Church, he saw the Reisen’s chapel and noticed the statue of an angel next to it. Alex stared at it, wondering how he didn’t notice it the first time, but he felt something strange about that one, so he slowly walked away, the last daffodil spinning slowly between his fingertips. 

He stopped when he reached the statue of the angel placed in the little pond, covered with ivy. A shiver ran along his spine and he grabbed the small fence, staring at the water, considering crossing over to place the flower at the base of the statue. The pond couldn’t be that deep, after all.

“Again?”

Alex huffed, turning around to face the man he was expecting to see. “Do you have something against flowers? This is a cemetery, you know?” 

The man in dark clothes was standing next to the pond, hands in the pockets of his long jacket. “I just don’t want them here.” 

“And why you care about where I-“ Alex blinked at the realization, looking back at the pond for a second. “You know who’s buried here?” He asked and saw him looking down. “Sorry, I- I haven't thought about it.” 

“No need to apologize.” 

Alex sighed, and then asked, “He wasn’t a good person?” without really realizing he asked that aloud. Blushing under the blank look of the other man, he quickly added, “I mean, if you don’t want flowers on the grave... Or maybe it’s for other reasons? But that's none of my business... Sorry.” That said, he was ready to leave in pure mortification. 

“He wasn’t a bad person,” the man said so quietly that the other almost miss it, “but he made lots of mistakes, some hard to forget… and harder to forgive.” 

Alex studied that pale, melancholic face for a long moment until their eyes met again and he quickly looked away. “Still, there’s an angel protecting him,” he said and saw him frowning. “That’s what my mother thought about these statues: guardian of the souls. She used to leave flowers as thanks…” he shrugged, embarrassed, “It sounds even weirder saying it out loud.” 

Despite his worries, the man wasn’t laughing. “That’s the family tradition you mentioned before?” he asked, instead. 

“Yeah… I was trying to keep it going, seeing that’s one of the few things I can remember.” 

“What you mean?” 

“Well, I- me and my parents had an accident some year ago. I woke up from a coma with my memory damaged, so...” 

“But your parents-“ 

“They didn’t make it,” Alex said quickly, eyes on the water. Looking up, he saw him looking so sad he almost wanted to hug him. “Hey, it’s ok… I mean, it’s not, but- There’s nothing I can do about it.” And then he felt like he needed a hug himself- or just someone supporting him because he closed his eyes and had time only to take a deep breath before his body shut down again. 

When he opened his eyes, laying next to the fence of the pond, the mysterious man close by with a worried expression on his usually blank face. “Did I pass out?” 

“For a few minutes. How’re you feeling?” 

“Tired…” Alex groaned passing a hand over his face. “Sorry you had to see that… it never happened so often.” 

“It’s because of your conditions?” 

“Kind of. When I’m stressed- or if I suddenly remember something, I can pass out. Most of the time was just headache, but since we came here...” Alex shook his head, “Louis will drag me to the hospital if I tell him I pass out again…” 

“Louis…?” 

“Father Louis. A family’s friend. We started this trip around the states after I woke up. Risky, but I... I needed to move.” He said, then looked up at him that was still staring with a worried expression. “It’s ok. I’m fine now. really.” 

“Are you sure you don’t need help?” 

"Yeah, don’t worry.” Slowly they both stood up and he looked at the statue in the pond, “It was probably because I was thinking about my mom…” 

“And her tradition to leave flowers to the angels' statues?” 

Alex huffed a laugh, “Yeah. We moved a lot when I was a kid, from state to state, and- I think I can remember her doing it even then. Father Louis told me she started when she was little...” He shrugged, “Weird family, but it’s my family.” 

“It's not weird,” the man commented. “Her faith must have been strong.” 

“I guess.” Alex looked around, “But I lost the flower anyway… or you just throw it away?” 

“I didn’t.” 

Alex’s shoulders dropped tiredly. After a moment of hesitation, he said, “Look, I don’t know what your friend did, but everyone makes mistakes. Keep hating on someone it’s not gonna change anything- or make you feel better.” 

The man stared back at him again with a blank expression. “He knows what he has done, but never asked for forgiveness. His last desire was to be left alone with his guilt. That’s probably the only way he'll be able to make amends.” 

“What has he done to deserve such a punishment?” he asked quietly, feeling kind of bad for the stranger.

“He…” The man stopped, staring down at him, eyes sad again. “He couldn’t keep a promise... and he lost a dear friend because of that.” 

Alex said nothing- tried not to, because what he wanted to ask was probably too much personal. 

“Just let him be. He doesn’t deserve any sympathy from you, or anyone else,” the man added and then looked away, leaving without waiting for an answer. 

That evening, when Father Louis came back, he stopped straight to the Vegas’ diner and once at the door, he stopped and stared at Alex and Claire talking, sitting at one of the tables in the empty local. He took a deep breath before moving forward. 

Alex turned a bit and smiled, “Hey. You’re late.” 

“You mean you already ate my hamburger?” 

“Well, it was getting cold.” 

Claire smiled and stood. “I’ll get your dinner, Father,” she said, walking to the kitchen. 

“Thank you,” he nodded and sat down in front of him, watching her for another long moment. 

“You want to ask her out?” Alex whispered, sipping his coke. 

The other blinked and turned to him. “Uhm? What? No. Of course not.” 

“Just wondering.” 

“I think she’s more your type.” 

Alex huffed a weak laugh. “I do like mature women…” he said looking down, the smile fading a bit. “You know, this place is weird.” 

“Why?” 

“I don’t know. It feels like people already know me. Claire, the man in black, the old flower lady. It’s kind of-“ 

“Man in black?” 

“Yeah, I met him in the cemetery these days. A bit creepy, but-“ 

“Can you describe him?” 

Alex frowned. “Huh, black short hair, long jacket, pale…? Oh, and tall-“ he almost jumped when the man stood and ran away. “Hey, your dinner!” he yelled behind him, staring in pure confusion. 

“What happened?” Claire said coming out from the kitchen. 

“I have no idea,” Alex murmured grabbing his jacket to follow his friend. 

The gate of the cemetery was still open and there was no sight of Father Louis, so Alex entered and looked for him. He found the man not too far from the place where he woke up after sleepwalking. “Care to explain?” 

“Where did you see him?” Father Louis asked looking back at him, eyes shining in the dim light coming from the few, weak street lamp. 

“There isn't a place. Usually, he just shows up. You know him?” 

“You talked to each other?” 

“Not much.” 

“What did he say?” 

“So you know him.” 

“Just tell me what he said.” 

He crossed his arms, tired of being ignored. “That he has someone buried here, as the rest of the damn town because, you know, it's a damn cemetery!” 

“What else?” 

“Louis, what the hell? What's the matter with that guy? And don’t you dare say nothing. I swear I'm gonna punch you in the face.” At his silence, he shook his head in exasperation, “You ran away from the diner as a madman because of him!” 

The priest sighed, looking away, “Maybe it was another person.” 

“Oh please. You perfectly know who am I talking about, and you know him. Why you can’t just tell me?” 

“Because-“ Louis started nervously, but then simply stopped. “There’s nothing to say. Your description just reminded me of an old friend.” 

“Well, next time come with me leaving flowers all over the place so you'll meet him,” he snorted and saw the spark of surprise on the man’s face. 

“That’s why you came here, lately?” 

“That’s a problem too, now?” 

“When you started doing it?” Father Louis stepped closer. 

“Just- just recently.” 

“ _Since when_ , Alex?” he asked again, grabbing his shoulder. 

Alex looked angrily at him and get free from the grasp. “Why what I do is such a big deal to everyone?” 

“Because it is important, don’t you get it?” Louis yelled, watching him flinch back slightly. He took a deep breath to calm down. “I don’t- I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

Alex kept staring at him, “What you’re not telling me?” and at his silence, he shook his head in disbelief. “More secrets?” 

“it's for your own good.” 

“That’s something I can decide for myself!” Alex yelled, “How many things you’re hiding from me? Something about my memories too? Something important I forgot?” 

“Alex-“ 

“That’s why I keep dreaming about dead people every single night?” he continued, angrily, “Because that seems to be the only thing I deserve to dream about: death and blood and- and someone dying in my arms and I have no idea who is it! I woke up every day so overwhelmed with grief and- and guilt and sadness, I can hardly breathe, and I don’t even know why I should feel like this!”

Louis blinked in surprise. “Why you haven't told me about-?” 

“I don’t know! Because it was my problem, because it wasn’t real, but now… Now you have secrets and I can’t stop thinking that everything is connected.” Alex sniffed, looking so heartbroken. “What did I forgot? Something about the accident?” and then it hit him, a question so terrible, so scary that his voice almost refused to ask. “You never told me what caused it… Was it me? Mom and dad died because of me?” 

Louis said nothing, but his eyes were watery too. 

“I’m responsible for everything…? I’m-“ Alex stopped when he moved closer, keeping him in a tight embrace. 

“Alex, what happened it’s not your fault. None of this is.” 

“Then why you’re crying?” 

Louis blinked the tears away while placing his cheek against his short, blond hair. “Because seems like the more we try to change, more things stay the same,” he whispered sadly. 

“I don’t want to feel like this anymore…” 

Louis took a deep breath, “I can’t promise the truth will make you feel better.” 

“I doubt anything would,” Alex cried, holding on him. 

Louis stared down at the graves around them for a moment, then said, “That man you met here… You don’t remember about him?” 

Alex frowned, "Why should I...?" then he stopped, the shadow of a memory crossing his mind, but he couldn't catch it… He saw that man somewhere else before? 

When Louis moved away to look at him, he supported him just in time, keeping him in his arms, uncounscious.

.-.-.-.-.

“I had no other choice” 

“Yes, you did. Louis, he doesn’t need to-“ 

“Then why you talked with him in the first place?” 

A moment of silence. “When I saw him here- I couldn’t believe it was real. Then, I realized what has happened.” 

“And you couldn’t accept it.” 

“I do. I have to.” 

“Then why you keep torturing him like this?” 

“…I thought he was dead, Louis.” 

“Then why you just haven't told him the truth? Why playing with him like this?” 

“You’re not in the position to accuse me of _playing with him_.” 

“I did what his parents asked me to. I kept him safe. I helped him get his life back- his world back. He deserved it.” 

“Then why you brought him here?” 

“You think it was my idea? We moved all over the State before arriving here. He, his family, they kept moving around all their life, and now you know why. They got a second chance, and still, his mother decided to do something for _us_. Despite she remembered everything.” 

“But it can’t be-“ 

“They both remembered, but Alex doesn’t. Before the accident, only me and his parents knew the truth… aside our brothers and sisters.” 

“Why she kept helping us?” 

“Because she thought it was right… That some of us deserved her help.” A long sigh. “Alex is doing the same thing, now. He started here, in a little town with a woman named Claire, owners of a diner called _Vega_. And I haven’t told him to search for you. He found you on his own.” 

There was a long moment of silence. “That change nothing.” 

“But it means something!” Louis shot back. “You heard him, he- he’s falling apart. Alex’s mind and soul are splitting in two.” 

“And you think it’s my fault?” 

“No, I think it was the accident's fault, but I also think that you should be one helping him cope with the truth.” 

“Are you insane? After what we've been through-“ 

“He doesn’t want to forget. Why do you think we’re here? He was searching for you- waiting for you. He still needs your guide.” 

“But if he remembers…” 

“You know what his mother- what _he_ is trying to do here. He knows it’s right, he just can’t understand how you know it. You can spend the rest of your life trying to stop him, or you can help him get better.” 

“I don’t want to lose him again...”

“I don't want that either, but if it's for Alex's sake, I'm willing to take the risk. The question is if you are."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder why hospitals have the best food machines...

.-.-.-.-

_“Alex!”_

_He turned around and saw a man grabbing the bars blocking the way, a deep wound bleeding through his short black hairs, down on the side of his head._

_“Please, don’t do it!” The man screamed._

_“I have to.”_

_“We’ll find another way! If the marks are wrong-“_

_“You know they’re never wrong.”_

_The man looked angry, but also desperate. “This is not how it should be! We can change fate- you can change yours!”_

_“I doubt I’ve ever had a word on the matter…”_

_“Please!”_

_Alex looked at him, surprised to find the man crying as if his heart was breaking apart._

_“Please…” he said again, a quiet prayer._

_“It’s ok,” Alex said, staring back, “It’s gonna be ok.” And he heard the man screaming his name again before the nightmare finally ended._

.-.-.-.-.

Alex woke up with a gasp, looking around, recognizing the place: his little room in the Church. Sitting up on the bed, he looked down at his hands, vaguely remembering blood all over them.

Father Louis arrived a second later, “You’re awake. Thank God…” 

“What- what happened?” 

“You fainted again,” he said placing a hand on his forehead, “and you’re burning up. We’ll take you to the hospital for a checkup and then-“ 

“No,” Alex grabbed his shirt, the sudden movement making him feel dizzy. “No, you- you have to tell me about that man. I saw him in my nightmares… he was there. Is that place real? When that happened?” 

“We’ll talk about that soon as you get better, I promise.” 

“No, you’re gonna tell me now!” he yelled back, standing and moving unsteadily in the center of the room to follow him. “He was in the cemetery when I pass out, was he? I heard you two talking.” 

“Alex…” 

“Why can’t you just tell me the truth?!” 

“Because it’s not up to me to tell you!” 

Alex let out an angry, frustrated breath before leaving. The key of the room was always in the keyhole, outside, so he turned it and locked the man inside. 

“Alex, wait-“ Father Louis grabbed the handle when it was already too late. “Please, listen to me!” 

“Now you want to talk?” he snorted, throwing the key away. “I had enough of all this,” he murmured and, still unstable on his feet, he walked away ignoring the voice calling for him from the other side of the door. 

 

The rain was starting to fall down again, the cold wind hurting Alex’s eyes, but actually felt good against his hot skin. He knew where to go to find the answer he needed… what surprised him, was finding Judith, the flower lady, waiting at the gates of the cemetery, under a tree. 

She looked at him and grinned as always, handing him two daffodils. “You took your time.” 

Alex stared at her, not sure of what to say. He stared at the flowers and took only one. “The other is for you,” he said quietly and nodded a goodbye before walking to the gate. 

“Thank you,” Judith whispered from behind, her voice sounding as on the verge of tears. 

Alex turned around, but the woman was already gone. He took a deep breath and entered the cemetery, walking down the path illuminated by the gray light of the end of the day darkened by the storm. Lightheaded, he managed to find the pond, but there was no one around. “I know you’re here!” he yelled, “You can stop the act now- or there’s more?” 

The wind and the sound of the rain hitting on the tombstones were the only answer he got. 

“You know me, I figured that much, but I can’t- I don’t remember why or how we know each other…” he grabbed the fence in front of the pond to steady himself. “I saw you in my nightmares. You were there, telling me to stop… I don’t know what I was doing- to make you so angry.” He stared at the statue still sheltered by ivy’s branches, as if waiting for it to move. Blinking the tears away, he then looked down at the flower in his hand and decided to cross the fence, landing in the cold water that reached his ankles. Moving closer to the statue, ready to touch it, he felt so dizzy he almost fell forward, hands and knees down into the water. Trying to stand, he realized to have lost the flower in the meantime. Trying to find it in that semi-darkness, under the rain, with rising fever, looked an impossible task. 

“Damn it!” Alex yelled, staying on his knees in the water. Just then, he saw something written at the base of the statue, carved in the stone. 

He removed the branches and stared at the word- a name. “Michael,” Alex whispered and blinked in surprise, slowly remembering fragments of moments he spent with a man he thought he didn’t know, but that actually had been at his side for so long... In a time- no, in a _world_ he completely forgot about, but the memories were there, places and people. Friends smiling at him, enemies fighting against him… but there was one person that seemed to be connected to everything, and that person was Michael, the Archangel, fighting his own family to protect humans from being wiped away from the existence. 

Alex blinked again, back to the present, where he wasn't the Chosen One anymore... Then, he saw Michael himself kneeling next to him in the water. 

The Archangel was crying too, or maybe it was just rain rolling down on his face. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly, gently placing a hand on his cheek: the world suddenly looked so distant- almost disappearing, while another one slowly took its place… the memory of a world everyone on the whole planet had forgotten about...

.- * -.

_The war in Vega quickly became out of control: it was anarchy and violence in the whole city until the Chosen One started to convince people to fight back, trying to put some order in the chaos the Amphora’s nightmares had freed, and after the army of 8balls invaded the streets._

 _Alex tried his best to keep fighting, to not stop, nor look back because there was no time for that- not even after Claire’s death. He forced himself to keep moving, but losing Noma…_

_He knew, by now, that he wouldn’t have got that far without Michael and Gabriel's help- that he would've died the moment Lucifer arrived in the city using Noma’s body as a vessel._

_He tried to talk her out of it, to use the marks to free her, but apparently, it was impossible to free someone that doesn’t want to be free. Noma actually smiled at him when it all started: she was happy; she was_ whole _again, those beautiful white wings spreading from her back… Then she was gone, leaving Vega, leaving him, the man she said to love, behind, in the chaos._

_Michael arrived after that, explaining what he and Gabriel had found out about Lucifer and how dangerous the situation could become. Angels were already a problem, but the most powerful of the Archangel plotting a revenge against them, if not against the entire world? That was something that seemed to worry even Gabriel._

_At that point, though, Alex had lost all his will to fight. He didn’t wanted to use his powers anymore, because if the marks couldn’t help him save the people he loved, what was the point? A bigger divine plan? Saving humankind from the extinction? Maybe it was right to just let it happen._

_“We got this far, Alex, please,” Michael said to him a few days later, after the Chosen One almost died in a fight against more 8balls, eyes shining with tears, “You’re stronger than you think. You saved all those people- I’m sure we’ll find a way to save Noma too. You can’t give up now, we need you. I need you.”_

_Alex stared at him in silence and just nodded, accepting to believe in his words, because that was the only thing he could do: believe- hope that he was the only one able to save Noma._

_He tried to believe… but when that had ever been of any help in a place like Vega?_

_Later on, they discovered that Lucifer had some kind of mental connection with the Chosen One- maybe because of the marks, or maybe it was because he was using Noma, but Alex’s mind was always tested, especially during his sleep, dreams that started turning into terrible nightmares. The one able to keep him sane was Michael: somehow, the Archangel was the only able to help him not to drown in desperation and madness._

_Michael never stopped believing, his usual coldness leaving the place to an empathy more and more similar to human’s, surprising even his brother Gabriel. He kept pushing his Chosen One forward, without looking back because, as Gabriel said to Alex once, “If the past is full of shit, what kind of solution you hope to find in there?”_

_It was weird having Gabriel on their side, but if there were still doubts, they vanished after he almost killed Duma: when Alex ran away in search of the dyad, after a particularly violent nightmare, he decided to fight the creature alone, ready to die in the attempt- and it would have happened, if Gabriel hasn't arrived to help, ready to finish the job, but then... Then Alex asked Gabriel to stop, and let him try to use the marks and exorcise the former leader of the House Reisen. It worked, and Alex almost got killed in the process, as Duma himself declared before disappearing forever._

_When Alex woke up, he thought he was dead and that everything has been just a bad dream, but Michael was there too, staring out the window. “Did I make it?” was the first thing he asked and he already knew the answer when the Archangel turned around and smiled, a smile Alex had rarely seen in the last years._

_Michael said to be proud of him, but also told him not to use the marks for a while because he needed to regain his strength. They were both aware of how dangerous using them could be, but what happened with Duma was the proof they were looking for, about how stronger he could become._

_“Still not enough to save Noma,” the Chosen One murmured. The Archangel sat next to him on the bed, gently grabbing his hand saying, “You will,” leaving a light kiss on it. Alex blinked in surprise, blushing feeling Michael’s lips against the skin, and then he noticed the marks moving all over his arm again, new words appearing:_ The Marks must be written in the blood of the traitor.

 _Alex didn’t talked about it at first, but in the end confessed about the new prophecy to Michael and Gabriel: this_ traitor _apparently had to be killed, but none of them knew who that person could be, and what could’ve happened fulfilling the mysterious prophecy._

_Not surprisingly, Lucifer discovered about it, managing to kidnap Alex into his own mind, in one of those terrible nightmares, this time leaving a terrified Michael unable to help him out._

_Lucifer admitted, almost gladly, to be the traitor of the prophecy, but no one said it has to be only one: also Gabriel became a traitor breaking the Seventh Seal and condemning the whole world to fight a never-ending war._

_Alex listened to Noma talking, aware that it wasn’t really her. He begged Lucifer to let her go, that he would have given up on the prophecy and, surprisingly, Lucifer actually considered his offer, but at one condition: if he wanted Noma back, he had to kill Gabriel. “I’ll even let her keep the wings. I’m very generous, see?” Lucifer added, a peaceful smile appearing on Noma’s face. He also made clear that there was no negotiation about his request: Lucifer could give up on the revenge against all his own family, but one had to pay the price of his forgiveness._

_When Alex was finally released from the nightmare, with the promise to take a decision in few days, the first thing he saw was Michael, kneel on the floor next to the couch where he was laying, lifting his head from their hands tangled together as if he was praying. “He knows everything,” Alex said and slowly told him about what he and Lucifer discussed during his sleep._

_Michael was angry, but also conflicted. Lucifer maybe was telling the truth, but why he was suddenly so eager to end the war and forgive them? “There must be a reason why he told you about all this,” he said nervously walking around the room._

_“He knows that my choice will change the destiny of everyone,” Alex murmured looking down. “Killing Lucifer would make me a savior, while killing Gabriel would give him the revenge he wants… turning me into a weapon of destruction.”_

_Michael stared at him for a long moment before asking, “You want Gabriel to know about this?”_

_Surprised, Alex looked up at him, “You’re really asking me?”_

_The Archangel smiled patiently, “You’re not a kid anymore. We’re both warriors, you proved it to me multiple times by now. I trust you enough to put my life in your hands. I always have.”_

_The morning after, they told everything to Gabriel that, strangely enough, didn’t fight them about being a traitor. He knew what he had done in the past, and that lot of people would be more than happy to kill him slowly and painfully… but Alex’s wasn’t one of them. “Not anymore, at least,” the Chosen One said, “and I’m sure Noma wouldn’t let me sacrifice the entire world to save her. So the only choice we have is to find another way.”_

_Gabriel said that he wasn't asking for anyone's help, but Michael saw the surprised, and half-guilty look crossing his brother's face when Alex made it clear that he wasn't going to kill him._

_Unexpected help arrived from Julian: he casually knew where to find Lucifer. Of course, not Michael nor Gabriel believed him, so they accepted the task to go check the location themselves. Alex told Michael not to go, that he had a bad feeling about it, something wasn’t right, but the Archangel just smiled at him and said that they could risk to take him with them and that they will be back soon._

_But they didn’t come back that night, and not the night after either._

_Alex decided to face Julian, then, almost killed him, the marks shining all over his body, fueled with rage, but the Dyad kept screaming that he hadn't betrayed them, that he only shared the information, "Why should I risk lying to the Chosen One? I know you could kill him in a second! It's Lucifer’s doing, clearly, we all knew it could be a trap, but who can predict what that crazy bastard is planning?"_

_Alex knew Julian’s words were true, so he had no choice but to go after Michael. Most of the people that knew who he really was told him not to go, that the Chosen One couldn't risk his life like that, while the war was still raging... so Alex talked with General Riesen that was still recovering from the fight, and from the loss of his daughter. Alex told him how much the city needed a guide, now more than ever, and how hard Claire had fought for Vega while he was gone. In the end, the General accepted to guard over the city once again, at least until the Chosen One would be back._

_Later that same night, Julian himself arrived in Vega and gave Alex a small group of high angels to take with him in his mission. Julian also confessed his thoughts about Noma's situation: if she accepted to let Lucifer use her body as a vessel, the chances she was still in there were almost none- and probably both Michael and Gabriel already knew it. Alex didn't commented but thanked him for the help, and Julian just wished him good luck before leaving. The morning after, before the dawn, the group was already heading to Lucifer's hiding spot: the remains of an old city distant half day from Vega, behind a forest._

_The battle started the moment they walked in the dusty, half destroyed streets: 8balls everywhere, along with the high angels that decided to follow Lucifer- basically nothing Alex could or had time to face, so he let Julian’s army keep them busy while he started to search for Michael and Gabriel. He needed them to fight Lucifer... Sadly, being so close to him turned the nightmares into terrifying hallucinations that started to hunt him behind every corner: people he failed to save, the ones he left behind- the ones that died because of him._

_When he reached the control room, he sighed in relief watching Michael in one of the cameras, locked in a cell, arms chained to the wall, wounded but alive… not sure about Gabriel, laying on his stomach, unmoving on the floor, at his brother's feet. Alex pushed some buttons until he finally saw Michael's restrains opening and the Archangel falling down on his knees._

_“They’re adorable together, aren’t they?” came Noma’s voice from behind._

_Alex stared at the two brothers for another moment before turning around: the last thing he saw, was a punch hitting him straight in the face._

 

_He woke up in a large, empty space- some kind of an office maybe, with broken tables and chairs laying here and there as a few corpses; a wall was destroyed, so he could see the lights of the war raging outside, in the night. He tried to move and groaned at the pain spreading from his right leg, now broken._

_“Sorry. I needed to slow you down a bit,” Noma said, approaching him._

_Alex took a shattered breath, noticing an entrance not too far, the only way out from there, closed by metal bars._

_“Well, time’s up, Chosen One,” Lucifer said, “Enough playing around, and put Gabriel to sleep. Forever, if you don't mind.”_

_Alex flinched back when Gabriel’s body was thrown in front of him. Wounded, half of his face covered in blood, but still breathing._

_“We both know you can’t kill me,” Lucifer said, still walking around them like a wolf waiting to attack a wounded prey. “He deserves it anyway. For what he did to you, to me- and to Noma. I’m sure you haven’t forgotten about that, right?”_

_“Why you’re doing this? Why Noma?” Alex asked, looking at her._

_“Because she asked me. And because she was the closest to you, of course,” she smiled, “You trusted her so much even if she lied to you about being human, or being your friend… or about your mother. She’s the one that killed her, you know? Her mission was to kill you too,” she pointed at the Archangel between them, “It was Gabriel’s orders.”_

_“But she didn’t,” Gabriel said, eyes half open, “She refused to kill you,” he added, looking at the blonde._

_“Just because she was smart enough not to make both you and Michael angry,” Lucifer snorted, eyes only for Alex, crouching next to him like he was a present ready to be open._

_“Alex, don’t do it…” Gabriel groaned, “You’re going to die if you-“_

_Noma punched him so hard he passed out, blood flowing from the new cut on his cheek. “No one likes spoilers, Gabriel.”_

_“I already knew…” Alex said quietly, looking down at Gabriel. “Using the marks to kill an Archangel... I’ll probably die too.”_

_Noma studied him almost curiously. “You’re accepting to die for the greater cause far easier than I thought.”_

_“There nothing to keep fighting for anyway…” Alex said, voice low, but he smiled a bit when he looked up, grabbing her hand. “There was only one thing. I refused to give up because of her- because I thought I could save her, but now…” he took a deep breath and dragged her down into a hug. “Now that you take her away from me, I have nothing to lose,” he said, while the marks started to shine._

_Lucifer laughed, "Oh, Alex... You have just lost the opportunity to save her," she said trying to move away- and the smile faded from Noma's face when she discovered she couldn't. Lucifer studied the marks blocking both his actual body and soul. "No... no, you can't keep me here! You are nothing compared to me!"_

_"Wanna bet?" Alex murmured ironically, his eyes now shining with light too, his arms tightly keeping Noma's body against himself while the marks were blocking Lucifer into it._

_Gabriel woke up then, and blinked a couple of time, looking at the two next to him, mouth partly open in surprise. He tried to say something, but the marks over the Chosen One’s body were shining so much it was becoming hard to see._

_“Go,” Alex said looking at him, trying to keep a strong hold on Noma that was trashing and screaming._

_“Alex, there’s still time, we can-“_

_“ **Go away,** ” He yelled angrily at him, his voice partly distorted._

_Gabriel stared at him for another second before painfully standing up, limping away until a golden aura growing bigger and stronger around the Chosen One forced him to fly away through the destroyed wall, landing on the building next to the one he just escaped._

_“Alex!”_

_The Chosen One looked aside and saw Michael grabbing the bars blocking the entrance to the room, a wound bleeding on the side of his head._

_“Please, don’t do it!” The Archangel screamed._

_“I have to.”_

_“We’ll find another way! If the marks are wrong-“_

_“You know they’re never wrong.”_

_Michael looked angry, but also desperate. “This is not how it should be! We can change fate- you can change yours!”_

_“I doubt I’ve ever had a word in the matter…”_

_“Please!”_

_Alex looked at him, surprised to find the man crying as if his heart was breaking apart._

_“Please…” Michael said again, a quiet prayer._

_“It’s ok,” Alex said, staring back at the man, “It’s gonna be ok.” And he heard the man screaming his name again before the nightmare finally ended._

.-*-.

Alex woke up in a hospital bed, hearing the rain hitting the window on the left. After a long moment, he looked the other way and blinked slowly. “You always knew everything?”

Louis was sitting next to the bed, staring at him with a sad expression, but he nodded.

“Only you?”

“And your parents.” 

Alex took a deep breath, looking at his own arms, now free from any kind of marks... He wasn't the Chosen One anymore. He looked back at the other, “I saw you die in that lab, beneath Vega… how can you be here? How can we all be here?” 

“You saved all of us,” Louis said. “I don’t know what you did, but you saved the world.” 

“I think... I think I killed Lucifer,” Alex murmured sitting up, the memories of a forgotten past still fresh in his mind. “He wanted to destroy me- and let the world die. He- he used Noma against me… and I killed both of them.” He slowly passed a hand over his arm. “The prophecy said that the marks had to be written with the blood of the traitor…” he looked up at him again, “but I died too. I killed everyone.”

“I think you created your own prophecy. You gave everyone a second chance, Alex. You brought me back too,” Louis said, gently. “You gave the whole world a second chance. The war against the Angels never happened here.” 

"But... What kind of power could've created a- a new dimension? For the whole world?" 

"Apparently, you could. With a little help, maybe." 

Alex looked down at his clear skin. "That's why the marks are gone...?" 

"We always knew they were the last fragments of our Father. I think you proved it to us in the best way possible."

Alex said nothing: the thought of God _helping_ him save the world would've driven him insane. “What about Michael?” 

“He’s… his situation is different.”

“Different how? I met him before, in the cemetery...”

Louis nodded, “I know, but sadly, not all the Angels _reborn_ in this world. We’re not part of it, after all.”

“But you’re here, you’re- are you human now?” Alex asked and blinked in surprise when the other nodded again. 

“I remember everything, but I’m not an angel anymore. After I found myself here, in this new world, I searched for Michael but found your parents instead. They remembered everything, and made me promise to never tell you anything about the war and the angels.”

“But they let you stay with us… with me. You stayed even after the accident.”

“I told your parents I just wanted to help them in any way I could. It was the least I could- also to repay what your mother was doing for the rest of the Angels.” 

Alex frowned, “What you mean?”

Louis took a deep breath. “Alex, the Angels can't reborn, and they can't go back in time and just forget either. There’s no forgiveness for what most of us- most of them have done. You saved the humankind, but most of the Angels were trapped in this world as a punishment. They still are.” 

“I- I wasn't trying to-“ 

“I know, but that’s what the marks did. Maybe it was what our Father thought it was right.” 

Alex looked still confused, but then a memory hit him. “It has something to do with the statues? That's how the Angels are trapped on Earth?” 

Louis nodded. “The flowers your mother left to them, were a sign of mercy. She was able to free the angels ready to be judged, and seek for redemption.”

“Wait... are you saying she spent her life to save them? And I was doing the same thing?” 

“I think it's something your family probably earned.”

“But- what it means freeing the Angels? What will happen to them?”

“They will be judged for their sins and then punished or allowed to redeem themselves, depending on what they have done during the war.” 

Alex moved his legs out the bed. “What about Michael? What will happen to him?” 

"You have to understand that not all the angels are in the same situation- or got the same treatment. Some are stuck in the bodies they used and killed, others are completely asleep, not even conscient of what has happened-" 

"What about Michael?!" the blonde asked angrily.

Louis sighed. "Some angels, like him, are just entities without a physical form. They are bonded to the statues, and can't leave the place where they are" 

Alex blinked, a doubt forming into his mind, sad and cold. "Did he tried to find me in all this time?" 

"Since the day you were reborn," he admitted sadly. 

"And you knew..." 

"Alex, I-" 

"You knew everything, even that he was looking for me and you said nothing!" 

"Your parents didn't wanted you to remember him! Or about your past, for the matter. They wanted to give you the life you never had the chance to live." 

Alex just stared at him for a long moment, "You should've told me the truth after they died." 

"I know. I tried so many times, but knowing that I would go against your family's wish, I didn't." Louis said. Then, he watched him stood, grabbing the jacket to leave. “Alex, wait-“

“I can’t wait!” he pushed free from his grasp. “Last time he saw me I was dying- I took the whole damn world with me, and now that we were together again, I couldn’t even remember about him! I just sent him away to be judged like all the others! You know what he did for me- for all of us!” 

“I’m sure he will be judged fairly.” 

“But I don’t want him to be!” Alex yelled, his voice cracked by sadness. “I didn’t mean to send him away like this! Why he didn’t say anything?” 

“Because he also understood that you deserved another chance as well, to create a new future for yourself-“ 

“What _chance_? I've created a new world just to lose everyone I love again!” Alex shot back, “You all lied to me... the story is just repeating itself.” 

Louis looked down, then out the window and thought for a moment, “Maybe you still have time.” 

“For what?” 

“To say goodbye.”

.-.

A few moments later, Louis had to take Alex away from the hospital like a criminal, knowing that the doctors wouldn’t allow him to go home all of sudden. Even if his conditions seemed to have improved now that his memory was back, it would be hard to explain.

Alex kept staring nervously outside the car’s window all the way back to the Church, at the sky still cloudy and dark few hours before the dawn, until they stopped in front of the cemetery. He spared a quick look at Louis that just nodded, before jumping out the car and running inside the cemetery, ignoring the rain hitting his hair, but noticing some of the statues missing… the same statues where he had left the flowers. 

Alex reached the pond and slowly came to halt in front of the fence: the base where once was situated the statue of the Archangel Michael was now empty, the ivy's branches laying into the water. A daffodil still visible on the surface, not too far from it. 

Alex stared at it feeling tears forming in his eyes. He took a shattered breath in and then froze for a second before turning around… and Michael was there, his back to him, but there was no mistake that it was him. 

Michael was looking up at the sky, then slowly turned as well, looking surprised- so confused. “I shouldn’t be here,” he murmured staring at the pond. “I failed my mission… the judgment-“ he flinched when the young man grabbed the collar of his shirt. 

“Why the hell you didn’t tell me the truth?” Alex yelled.

“It was too painful to remember,” he said looking sadly down at him. “I let you die- I could only watch you sacrifice yourself for us, and… and I thought it wasn’t fair, even if it was the only way to end the war.” 

“ _That’s_ why you think you don't deserve to be forgiven?” Alex asked in disbelief.

“Alex, I know what your mother did for us- saving us even if we don't deserve it, and when I saw you standing in front of my grave with that flower..." he shook his head, "I couldn't ask for your forgiveness… and the more you kept trying, harder became to tell you the truth.” 

“It was my choice, now as back then on the battlefield. I knew what would've happened to me killing Lucifer, and I accepted it.”

"“But I couldn’t,” the Archangel said, looking so ashamed. He closed his eyes for a moment before looking at the pond with watery eyes, “I don’t deserve to be here.”

“You do, more than anyone else.” 

“Not after what I did. You have to stay away from me,” he said grabbing his arms, trying to break free, “It was just fair for you to forget everything about the past- the deaths, the blood, the suffering-” 

“You think it's different now? There’s nothing here for me!” Alex yelled angrily, without letting him go. “Just like before… And I still need you to survive this- to not lose myself. I never meant to send you away... what if you were not going to come back…?” Alex felt tears finally rolling down and he shut his eyes, hiding the face into his chest. “I can’t make it without you, Michael… I don’t want to lose everyone again.” 

“You didn’t lose them, Alex, you saved them. You saved the whole world.” 

Alex sobbed, shaking his head, “Expect the people I cared about.” 

Michael took a deep breath, looking down at the young man crying against him... the same young man that managed to save the world all by himself, succeeding were the Archangels had failed, but still thinking that it wasn’t enough. “Alex, I don’t know if this is part of something bigger, something not even I can understand, but you did save your parents. These years you spent with them wouldn't have been the same if they would've decided to make you remember. They wanted to be a happy, normal family as long as they could... I’m sure they treasured every single moment you spent together, and I’m sure they were proud of what you did.” 

“But you aren't.” 

Michael blinked and placed both hands on his shoulder to gently push him away, enough to be able to look at him. “How can you say something like this?” he asked incredulously. 

“You would’ve stopped me if you could," Alex said sadly. 

“Yes... because I wasn't ready to lose you,” he nodded seriously. “I was angry with myself, not at you, because it was me the one unable to accept the costs of ending the war, if the price was your life. When I felt your presence in this worlds again, knowing that you were alive... I realized how selfish I have been.” Michael sighed, squeezing his shoulders a bit more. "I don't deserve to be at your side anymore.” 

“Your place is with me. It'll always be with me," Alex said, "I need you, Michael." 

They stared at each other for a moment, then Michael tangled their hands together and kissed his fingers. He then looked at him with watery eyes and moved forward to leave a kiss on his lips as well- and it felt like a promise to never separate ever again. 

__

__

__End._ _

Inspired by this prompt here: "Everyday you walk down the same street, past the church with the statues adorning the top on your way to work. Today one of the statues seems different... it has a smirk on its face."  
I kind of turned it into something different, but I like to give credits to what/who inspired me for something. I just have the picture of the prompt, so, sadly, I have no idea who's mind came up with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's what I thought about season 3. A fangirl can dream... well, we sure can write.


End file.
